


Stagnate

by amixii10



Series: August Miraculous AUs [15]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: AU Yeah AUgust (Miraculous Ladybug), Alternate Universe - Life Swap, Angst, Gen, Good Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Minor Character Death, The Author Regrets Nothing, idk what this is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:40:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25957642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amixii10/pseuds/amixii10
Summary: Marinette is the daughter of Sabine Cheng, and she watches as her father deteriorates.
Series: August Miraculous AUs [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1860127
Comments: 8
Kudos: 29





	Stagnate

**Author's Note:**

> honestly this is not my best work
> 
> wrote this at like 2 am so uh
> 
> anyways maybe I'll come back to this after au yeah august is done

“Ms. Dupain-Cheng?” Nathalie asks. Marinette turns to face her from her piano. 

“Yes, Nathalie?” she responds. 

“Your mother has requested your attendance in the opening of the Bourgeois Hotel in three days. Miss Bourgeois will also be attending.” 

It takes all of her willpower for Marinette to not tilt her head back and scream at the top of her lungs. She settles for a sigh instead. 

“Okay. Can you tell her that I’ll make my own dress?” 

Nathalie nods and hits something down on her tablet. “I’ll tell her that.” 

“Thank you.” Marinette moves to her table and starts designing the dress- it would be a tight schedule, but she could do it. 

***

“Mare-bear!” Chloe practically screeches as she sprints across the room in her heels. Marinette braces herself for the inevitable jump- if she was going down, she might as well go down with some dignity. 

“Hi, Chloe,” she says weakly, petting her hair after she had launched herself onto Marinette. 

Chloe pulls herself off of Marinette long enough to look at her dress. “Mari! Did you design this yourself?” 

“Yeah, actually. I did it in three days with no sleep, so that has to be some sort of record.” 

“Marinette. You have to get sleep,” she says condescendingly. 

“Eh,” she responds, shrugging her shoulders. “Where are the snacks?” 

Chloe just sighs and points to them. 

“Don’t eat-” she starts, but Marinette’s already halfway across the room. “Too fast.” 

Marinette heard her mother’s heels approaching after she ditches Chloe. 

“Marinette, you should not abandon your friend. I raised you better than that.” 

She wants to retort, ‘You didn’t raise me at all,’ but she instead bows her head and looks at her feet. 

“Yes, Mother. I’ll return to her in a moment.” 

“Good.” Her mother stalks off, probably to terrorize a poor client or plan something with Audrey. 

“Hey, Chloe, what were the names of the kids in the class?” she asks after she finishes eating a croque-madame. 

“Well, you don’t need to know anyone’s name in class. They’re all losers anyways.” 

Marinette frowns. “Chloe.” 

She just pouts in response. 

“Fine. Well, there’s Ivan and Mylene, who are disgustingly in love. And there’s Nathaniel, who’s an artist. There’s Max and his jocks, Alice and Kim. You know Sabrina, obviously. Juleka and Rose, too. There’s this new girl, Alya, and her boyfriend, Nino. And then there’s Agreste,” she says, spitting the name with venom. 

Marinette tilts her head. “You’ve told me a lot about this Agreste guy. Why don’t you like him? What makes him so bad?” 

Chloe rolls her eyes. “Don’t even get me started. He’s just so nice to everyone, and he gets into their minds. I bet he’s manipulating them to do stuff for him. And on top of that, his parents are bakers.” 

“So? What’s wrong with being a baker?” she asks defensively. “Or have you forgotten that my father used to be a baker, too?” 

Chloe diverts her eyes. “Sorry, Marinette. I’ll try to be nicer. I know you’re trying to help me, but I think I’m a lost cause.” 

Marinette internally rolls her eyes. Chloe was back on her bullshit. 

“It’s okay.” 

***

“Hey, Adrien. Wanna play Mecha Strike after school with me?” she asks one day at lunch. 

“Um. Uh, sure play Mecha Strike fine,” he stutters out. She nods happily continuing to eat her croissant. She wondered if she still intimidated him- she had apologized after the gym incident, but it seemed like maybe he was still afraid? 

“Hang on, I've gotta take this call,” she says when her phone starts ringing. 

“Yes, Mother?” she says, walking away. It was oof that her mother was calling her. Usually Nathalie would call. 

“Marinette, I need you to come home. Your father… his condition is deteriorating. He won’t make it much longer.” 

“What do you mean?” she responds, her eyes already filling up with tears. She looks to the sky to blink them back. 

“I got a call from the doctor- she’s saying that he has less than three hours left. The infection is spreading over his lungs and heart.” 

Tom Dupain had gone into a magic-induced coma at the age of twenty-eight. Marinette knee that he had some sort of infection spreading through his body, but she never imagined that he’d actually die. 

“Okay, Mother. Is the Gorilla coming to pick me up?” 

“Yes, he’s on his way,” she says, and the phone goes silent. 

She walks back to her friends. 

“I’m sorry, guys, I have to go home. I’ll call you when I can talk to you,” she says almost robotically. 

Adrien’s face is scrunched up in concern, and she can’t help but think how cute he looks, similar to her Bug. 

She walks away. 

***

The funeral is held on a bright, sunny day. Marinette wishes it would rain. She watches as her mother stands near her, her face not showing any emotion. 

She watches her grandmother and grandfather weep as they watch their son being lowered into the ground. 

Marinette feels nothing. 

Bridgette sobs, and she watches Felix comfort her. She sees a few unfamiliar faces- the patrons of her parents’ old bakery, his old university friends, and some of his relatives. 

Adrien watches a single tear escape her eye, then no more. 

He knew what it was like to fear for someone’s life- his mother had had breast cancer. He had cried freely. His parents stand behind him, and he smiles despite the circumstances. 

At least he still had both of them. 

Marinette wouldn’t.


End file.
